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Lincoln Avenue Communities Breaks Ground on NSA East Bank Adaptive Reuse to Deliver Two Hundred Ninety Four Affordable Apartments and Thirty Thousand Square Feet of Ground Floor Retail in Bywater

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Lincoln Avenue Communities Breaks Ground on NSA East Bank Adaptive Reuse to Deliver Two Hundred Ninety Four Affordable Apartments and Thirty Thousand Square Feet of Ground Floor Retail in Bywater

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Lincoln Avenue Communities has broken ground on NSA East Bank Apartments, an adaptive-reuse project converting a decommissioned naval complex into 294 affordable apartments and 30,000 square feet of ground-floor retail in New Orleans’ Bywater neighborhood. The development will anchor a larger rehabilitation of the Naval Support Activity complex, which has been vacant since 2011, and is planned as a multiphase campus that includes the NewLab innovation hub, future Railyard Marketplace and a riverfront estuary park.

“This project will be transformative for the Bywater community and will bring new life to these historically significant buildings,” said David Garcia, LAC Vice President and Project Partner.

NSA East Bank Apartments will offer 1-, 2- and 3-bedroom homes targeted to households earning between 20 percent and 60 percent of Area Median Income, including 74 Project-Based Voucher units. Onsite resident amenities will include a rooftop pool and clubhouse, first-floor community space, outdoor play structures, a dog park, pet wash station and bike storage. The project is pursuing Enterprise Green Communities Certification and will incorporate a rooftop solar array to offset a portion of common-area electricity, supporting lower operating costs and reduced environmental impact.

The project builds on LAC’s recent work in New Orleans, including the $35 million rehabilitation of the century-old Tivoli Place Apartments. NSA East Bank was designated a priority project by HUD and advanced with strong support from both the City of New Orleans and the State of Louisiana. LAC’s groundbreaking drew local leaders, elected officials and financing partners including J.P. Morgan, Capital One, Boston Financial, Stonehenge Capital, Customers Bank and Raymond James.

“Through historic tax credit equity, bridge financing and strong public-private collaboration, we’re proud to support the revitalization of NSA East Bank, preserving New Orleans’ heritage and building a brighter future for its residents,” said Tim Karp, Managing Director, J.P. Morgan Community Development Banking.

“Housing is the cornerstone of economic opportunity, and Capital One is proud of our track record as a top community development lender, ” said Dan Miller, Community Finance Capital Officer at Capital One.

The landmark NSA complex dates to June 1919, when the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps built a 1.5 million-square-foot logistics center on the East Bank of the Mississippi. The site includes three six-story buildings of more than 84,000 square feet each and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its role in military logistics during both World Wars.

Construction is underway with substantial completion anticipated in September 2027. For multifamily leaders, the project illustrates the intersection of historic preservation, affordable housing delivery and public-private financing strategies that can catalyze neighborhood-scale redevelopment while expanding housing options for lower-income families.